


born wrong

by GayKravitz



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Misgendering/Deadnaming in the first half, Realizations, Slurs, Trans Male Characters, Trans Stans, gender feels, trans author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 05:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15478764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayKravitz/pseuds/GayKravitz
Summary: There’s not a lot of ways to explain feeling like the wrong gender when you’re 12 in 1960-something. Sometimes it comes out wrong.





	born wrong

**Author's Note:**

> im not a trans man so lemme know if i got anything wrong here :’) both sets of pines twins are trans and you cant stop me

“Hey, Sixer?”

Stephanie pulled her book down from where their nose was currently buried in it. Stacey was hanging upside down from her top bunk, her long hair blocking the lamp’s light from shining on Stephanie. “Yes?”

“You ever feel…” Her twin trailed off, frowning before shaking her head. “Nevermind, it’s stupid. I’m going to sleep.” With that, Stace pulled herself back up to her bunk and Steph felt the rickety bed shift as her sister got comfy.

Steph frowned and closed her book (not before bookmarking the page). She set it down before climbing up to the top bunk. Stace looked at her with a raised brow, questioning her. “Aren’t we getting a little old to be sharing a bed?”

Steph just shrugged and laid down next to Stace. They were silent for a while, neither closing their eyes.

“What were you gonna tell me?” Steph asked quietly. Stace groaned.

“Nothin’, Sixer. It was stupid. ‘Night.”

“Just tell me, then, if it’s so stupid.” Steph pressed, sitting up. “Contrary to what other people think, we don’t have twin telepathy.”

Stace gave a chuckle at that, but it turned into a sigh. “You ever feel like maybe… maybe you were born wrong?”

Stephanie looked at her hands, six fingers on each of them, scowling. She heard Stacey groan of realization as her twin sat up next to her. “Dumb question, and you weren’t born wrong. But, you know what I mean, right?”

Steph looked at Stace, hearing almost desperation in her voice. Her twin looked miserable, obviously caught up in complicated feelings and Steph was and would stay none the wiser if Stacey didn’t help her understand further.

Stacey saw the confusion and concern on her twins face and sighed. “I dunno, maybe I was born wrong. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be me.” She fell back onto her pillow, her brown hair fanning across it.

“What do you mean?” Steph laid next to her, both of them staring up at the ceiling.

“I mean…!” Stacey groaned, smacking her face with her palm. “I dunno what I mean! I just feel like I’m not supposed to be me! I’m not supposed to be Stacey Pines. Maybe I’m not even supposed to be a girl. Maybe… Maybe I was supposed to be born a boy but something got switched around.” Stacey sighed and Stephanie stared at her sister with wide eyes. “I wish I was a boy.” She mutters, perhaps thinking that Stephanie can’t hear her.

Something about the way her twin says it makes everything click. Stephanie sat up with a gasp and Stacey blinked at their twin. They stare at each other, both wide eyed and almost frightened.

Stacey broke the silence first with a whisper. “Please don’t tell Pa.”

Stephanie sputtered at that. “Wh-What? There’s no way I’d ever tell him that!”

Stace breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Then what are you lookin’ at me like that for? You… you don’t think I’m a… queer, right?”

“No! No, no, Stacey, no way!” She shook her head viciously. “It’s just- I feel the same way!”

Stacey inhaled sharply. “Now’s really not a good time for jokes, Steph.”

“No, seriously!” Stephanie grinned, a giddy feeling rising in their chest. “I- I’ve always felt like I should be a boy, too!”

Stacey exhaled roughly, staring at their twin with wide, unblinking eyes. Then they laughed, a sharp burst of excited giggles. “No way. We’re both-?” They laughed again, clutching at their chest.

Stephanie laughed with them, something more nervous in their laughter. “Why are you laughing?” They asked, watching their twin double over in shoulder-shaking laughter.

Stacey looked up and Stephanie realized it wasn’t not laughter. It was sobbing. Stacey had tears running down their cheeks as they wheezed, their breath coming out of gasps. “Oh my gosh, why are you crying?”

Steph tried to wrap their arms around their twin, but was pushed away, their twins hands planted firmly on their shoulders. “Stacey?”

“Sixer, don’t you understand?” Stacey was grinning but the tears weren’t stopping. “We can be boys! We can wear Shermie’s old clothes, we can cut our hair and we can- we can be us! Together! I didn’t think I would be able to if it was just me, you know how Pa feels about homosexuals, but if we both do it…!” Stacey couldn’t finish the last sentence, suddenly overcome with such a deep happiness. Stephanie found himself grinning wildly and nodding at everything Stacey said with such ferocious support.

Stacey gasped suddenly. “If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna need new names! Can’t be going by dumb girl names forever, can we?”

Stephanie smiled even wider, nodding. “Yeah!”

“Honestly, I look nothing like a Stacey. I dunno what Pa was thinking when he named me!” He hummed, thinking intently. Steph copied his brother, going through possible names in his head while Stacey did it outloud. It was a long time before either of them found anything, just a constant muttering of all the boy names they’ve heard of.

“-David, Davis, Davey, Jerold, Jerry, Jesse, Jacob, Isaac, Nicholas, Stanford-“

Stephanie gasped softly. “Stanford! I like that one!”

Stacey grinned at his brother. “You gonna be Stanford? That’s a nice name! Suits you!” Stanford blushed, extremely pleased at the compliment. “Well, if you’re gonna be Stanford, I gotta choose a name to match!”

Stanford tilted his head to the side, brows furrowing. “Why?”

“Uh, because we’re twins! Duh!” Stacey snorted, playfully punching Stanford in his shoulder. “It’s basically illegal for twins to not have matching names! Even our old names were stretching it, that’s why Ma always lies to cops!”

Stanford scratched his chin in thought. “Huh. That doesn’t make sense but I don’t know enough about it to prove you wrong.” He shrugged, both of them laughing. “What name are you gonna choose?”

“What name indeed…” He mused, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s see… Stanford… Stan…” He gasped. “I’ve got it! What about Staniel?”

Stanford squinted at his twin. “Definitely not.”

“Can’t all be winners.” He shrugged. “If not Staniel, what about Stanley?”

“That’s a good name!” Stanford grinned in approval and Stanley clapped his hands together.

“That settles it! From here on out, we’re no longer Stephanie and Stacey! We’re Stanford and Stanley, the manliest men around! We’re gonna wear pants and cut our hair short and pick up all the babes!” Stanley jumped up, fist in the air, ready to continue his speech before his head hit the ceiling and he fell back onto the bed with a yelp. Stanford laughed as Stanley sat up, groaning as he rubbed his head. Stanley started laughing with him.

Pa wasn’t going to be very happy about this new development, but for now they could just enjoy their newfound identities.

 

**Author's Note:**

> gaykravitz.tumblr.com
> 
> i kinda wanna continue this into their teen/adult days :0


End file.
